Magnetic resonance imaging is an imaging method in which nuclear spins of a subject placed in a static magnetic field are magnetically excited with RF (Radio Frequency) pulses at the Larmor frequency and an image is generated from the magnetic resonance signals that are generated in accordance with the excitation.
There is an imaging method, using the magnetic resonance imaging, of imaging the heart in accordance with the motion of the diaphragm corresponding to the breathing motion. In this method, an area to which motion detection pulses for detecting the motion of the diaphragm are applied is set in the diaphragm and, just before magnetic resonance signals corresponding to each echo or each segment are acquired from an imaging region of the heart, magnetic resonance signals are acquired from the area to which motion detection pulses are applied. The magnetic resonance signals that are acquired from the area to which motion detection pulses are applied are used to correct the imaging region of the heart or to determine the timing at which the heart is imaged.